The former Emmerdale heart-throb has been enjoying steamy sessions with Wicked actress Gina Beck who plays a witch in the hit stage show.

The 32-year-old was spotted with Beck, 31, on a crowded London Tube last week in full view of commuters.

Insiders say the pair have enjoyed trysts since the start of the year behind the back of Ben’s wife Jennifer Biddall, the mother of his 15-month-old baby.

Jennifer, 31, agreed to marry Ben two years after he was embroiled in a sex scandal in 2008 when he faced trial for raping a 16-year-old girl on holiday in Barbados. He was later acquitted.

A source said: “It seems discretion hasn’t been something either of them have been concerned about. It is no surprise they were caught. This has all been behind Jennifer’s back, she had no idea.

“There were no signs of the marriage in trouble. They were blissfully happy and everyone thought they were the real deal and would last forever. The marriage definitely was not over.”

Love rat Ben started rehearsals for his role as Prince Fiyero in Wicked at the end of October and took to the stage at the start of this year.

Our source continued: “He hasn’t been in the show very long, he can’t have known Gina for more than three months.

“The cast aren’t happy though, it isn’t nice working in that sort of environment. It is very tense.

“A lot of them know and there has been a lot of comments and sadness. In theatreland you work very closely together and it isn’t nice to work with someone who is at it like this when you know they have partners at home.

“Gina puts herself out there as this squeaky-clean actress, so this news coming out will not do her any good. She was engaged to someone up until very recently.

“Ben has form for this type of behaviour. It isn’t the first time he has been caught out.”

The dad-of-one hit the headlines back in 2006 when he was accused of raping a teenager while on holiday in Barbados.

The girl, from Cheshire, said she got to know the star on holiday before he raped her on a sun lounger after a walk on the beach.

Ben insisted sex had been consensual and was acquitted of the offence in 2008.

He met wife Jennifer, a former Hollyoaks actress, a year later on the set of Dreamcoats and Petticoats. The pair were married in 2010 but it was widely reported how Freeman had cheated on former flame Amy Nuttall in the past.

Our source said: “It is despicable. The worst thing is Ben and Jennifer were so happy together, they even had a column together in Mother and Baby Magazine where he would sing her praises. They seemed so in love.

“When their baby boy was born they did an OK! shoot and everything.”

Just months ago Ben was still writing love-filled messages on Twitter to the wife he was cheating on.

One read: “To my beautiful wife @JenniferBiddall who I owe most things to including setting me up on Twitter. I hope you and my boy have had a good day.”

Yesterday, Ben and his new lover disappointed fans who queued for hours to meet the pair before their matinee performance by sneaking in through a back door of the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London.